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  • Dementia Friendly Communities

    A Dementia Friendly Community provides community-based support and services through local action for those living with, or affected by, dementia.

  • Dementia Friendly Communities

    A Dementia Friendly Community provides community-based support and services through local action for those living with, or affected by, dementia.

In Calgary, there are more than 13,000 people living with Alzheimer's disease or related dementias. Approximately 130,000 Calgarians are impacted by the disease.

Research tells us that Dementia Friendly Communities help people impacted by dementia and their caregivers feel included, safe and supported in the places where they work, live and socialize. Through community outreach initiatives, groups, businesses and individuals are educated about dementia and know that a person with dementia may sometimes experience the world differently.

 

A Guide to Creating Dementia Friendly Communities in Alberta

This guide is the culmination of a two-and-a-half-year pilot project in Alberta led by The Brenda Strafford Foundation. 

Working in partnership with local members of the pilot communities, education and training opportunities have been offered to help first responders, local businesses, and organizations better understand, recognize and respond to signs of dementia to better support the needs of those they serve. Schools are exploring ways to educate students throughout the curriculum and create intergenerational opportunities to engage with seniors in the community. Faith centres, community associations, and many other non-profit and public service organizations are ensuring supports and resources are mobilized and accessible in the community.

The Brenda Strafford Foundation have documented our journey, and lessons learned along the way, to create this guide as a locally sensitive, evidence-based approach for the development of Dementia Friendly Communities throughout the province. The resource provides localized information and best practices that individuals, businesses and civil society organizations can use to ensure their communities are dementia friendly.

dementiafriendlyalberta.ca


Proof of Concept Project

The Brenda Strafford Foundation is leading the Dementia Friendly Communities demonstration project – the first in Alberta – in two pilot locations:

  • The Calgary Westhills neighbourhoods of Signal Hill, Strathcona, Christie Park and Aspen
  • The Town of Okotoks

These communities were chosen due to the proximity to two of BSF’s continuing care facilities, Wentworth Manor and Tudor Manor, to leverage our existing expertise and networks in these communities. In addition to proximity to our established seniors care facilities, these two communities were chosen as they are also very different from each other – one is urban, while the other is semi-rural. Therefore, it is expected there will be commonalities but also some differences between these two communities during the project.

The initial project will run for a period of two and a half years, with a long range goal to become sustainable and grow city and province-wide.

Year One Impact Report

News & Events

Visit The Brenda Strafford Foundation's online News Archive and Events Calendar to find out more about our Dementia Friendly Communities news and events taking place in the community.

News Archive  Events Calendar

Vision

To mobilize the community to recognize the needs of those affected by dementia, and to build and improve supports for a Dementia Friendly Community, to ultimately improve the lives of individuals living with dementia and their caregivers.

Project Goals

  • To build community capacity to support individuals to age-in-place and remain in the community for as long as possible
  • To raise awareness of dementia and reduce stigma associated with the disease
  • Creation of a toolkit designed to enable sustainability of the Dementia Friendly Community beyond the project’s scope and allow for scale and spread within Alberta

Dementia Friendly Community Collaborations

The Brenda Strafford Foundation has partnered with local community members and organizations to form Dementia Friendly Community collaborative groups in the Calgary Westhills and Okotoks communities. These collaborative groups are composed of diverse community stakeholders to ensure the local approach is community sensitive, and they are driving the initiative forward at the community level.

Calgary Westhills Alliance

Co-Chairs:
Administrator, Wentworth Manor
Bryan Gilks, Caregiver

Alliance and Sub-Committee Working Group Representation from:
Caregivers
Alberta Health Services
Alberta’s Mobile Footcare Service
Alzheimer Society of Calgary
ATB Financial
Calgary Dementia Network
Calgary Fire Department
Calgary Police Department
Calgary Seniors Resource Society
Calgary West Central, Primary Care Network
Carya
City of Calgary
Clinical Pharmacist, Foothills Medical Centre
First Lutheran Church
Home Instead
Meals on Wheels
SCA Community Association
Stantec
The Kerby Centre
University of Calgary
Wentworth Manor Adult Day Program

Okotoks Coalition

Co-Chairs:
Brenda Carroll, Administrator, Tudor Manor
Janette Messer, The Town of Okotoks

Coalition and Sub-Committee Working Group Representation from:
Caregivers
Alberta Health Services
Adult Day Support Program
Alzheimer Society of Calgary
Calgary Rural Primary Care Network
Catholic Schools and Public Schools
Geriatric Social Work
Healthy Okotoks Coalition
Meals on Wheels
Okotoks Chamber of Commerce
Okotoks EMS
Okotoks Fire Services
Stantec
Town of Okotoks and Mayor of Okotoks

Contact Us

Contact us if you would like to learn more or become involved with this project:

Dementia Friendly Communities Project Manager
Manager, Research & Innovative Practice
​Navjot Virk 
Email: navjot.virk@theBSF.ca

Dementia Friendly Communities Coordinator,
Calgary Westhills

Emma Richardson
Email: emma.richardson@theBSF.ca

Dementia Friendly Communities Coordinator,
Okotoks

Jennifer Mallamo
Email: jennifer.mallamo@theBSF.ca

Funding Partners

In addition to core funding provided by The Brenda Strafford Foundation, funding for this project is supported by:

 

Research & Innovation

Research & Innovation Overview Research at the University of Calgary Research at our Manors Research & Innovation Partnerships Dementia Friendly Communities HealthTech Home Innovation Project
The Brenda Strafford Foundation Ltd.
4628 Montgomery Blvd NW
Calgary, AB T3B 0K7
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105198873RR0001
Communities Directory

In the spirit of respect, reconciliation and gratitude, we honour and acknowledge that our services are provided on the traditional territories of Treaty 7, which includes the Blackfoot Confederacy comprising the Siksika, Piikani and Kainai First Nations, the Tsuut’ina First Nation, and the Stoney Nakoda First Nation including the Chiniki, Bearspaw and Good Stoney Bands. These territories are also home to the Métis Nation of Alberta Region 3. We are grateful for the many First Nations who have lived in and cared for these lands for generations. We acknowledge that we have ongoing responsibilities to protect, honour and celebrate all of life within our shared communities.

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